Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,162 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 903 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,894,973,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at about $852,288,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after buying an additional 520,179 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter valued at about $87,173,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 66.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 860,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,807,000 after buying an additional 342,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of APD stock traded down $5.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $281.74. 1,832,140 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,710,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $265.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.20. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.24 and a 12-month high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $257.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.14.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.